STUFF of NIGHTMARES Children Speak out About the Impact of Addiction Your Fortnightly Magazine | Jobs | News | Views | Research
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22 October 2007 www.drinkanddrugs.net UNDER THE INFLUENCE Alcohol advertising before the watershed WHAT’S THE POINT? Needle exchanges are worth the controversy CULTURE CHANGE Connecting black crack users with services STUFF OF NIGHTMARES Children speak out about the impact of addiction Your fortnightly magazine | jobs | news | views | research Published by Drink and Drugs News 22 October 2007 In partnership with FEDERATION OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL PROFESSIONALS Editor’s letter Empowering People Interviews pulling apart drug strategy are two a penny motivated towards treatment with vouchers and at the moment – inevitable as the consultation closes incentives – effectively bribed to do anything positive for the new strategy. But the interview on Radio 4’s for themselves. Drink and Drugs News partners: Today programme was particularly disturbing – not The following morning, Dr Michael Ross featured just for the the points it raised, but for the way it on the programme to make essential balancing raised them (page 4). points: that the main reward for patients is that they Yes, it is always legitimate to question how vast are entering treatment for themselves. ‘Most patients amounts of public money are being spent. But to hate being addicts,’ he said. ‘What’s needed is to accuse mainstream treatment services of handing reinforce their self-esteem... giving up drugs has to be out illegal drugs as a reward system to ‘junkies’ was the patient’s own idea, and very frequently it is’. By a potential body blow at a time when the field needs his brief statements he rehumanised the argument, all the political support it can muster. Drug workers taking it back from the plethora of contested are used to fighting prejudice and stigma from the statistics and refocusing it on improving people’s public day in and day out, but it doesn’t help to have quality of life. Of course our drug services always misleading information aired on the BBC’s flagship need to be accountable on whether they are effective. breakfast programme, and it’s concerning to reflect But we should not let the assumption raised in the on the nature of this attack at such a politically programme – that a minute proportion of drug sensitive time. treatment works and that public money goes towards The shame was that the argument boiled down to helping treatment centres to indulge in bad practice – such pitiful logic: that drug patients need to be be the inaccurate picture that sticks. Editor: Claire Brown t: 020 7463 2164 In this issue European Association for e: [email protected] the Treatment of Addiction Reporter: News Round-up being openly influenced by alcohol advertising David Gilliver NTA dodges fire to announce more clients in during their favourite programmes, as Don e: [email protected] treatment•Underage alcohol sales Shenker explains. 10 falling•Police authority backs law What’s the point of needle exchange? Advertising Manager: review•Middle class areas top ‘hazardous Are needle exchange programmes worth the Ian Ralph drinking’ table•Big rise in Scottish drug-related t: 020 7463 2081 controversy they attract? Justin Dunne finds deaths•Twice as many Scotsmen using class e: [email protected] evidence to support their contribution to As as women•Coaker consults with young public health. 12 Designer: people•News in brief 4 Jez Tucker Beyond the crack e: [email protected] Features Cleverly-written diversity policies will not Cover story connect black crack users with services. Subscriptions: We need to look at fundamental culture e: [email protected] Home truths change to make services relevant, says A recent Glasgow exhibition featured artwork Chris Robin. 14 Events: by children of people with drug and alcohol e: [email protected] problems. The works on display were shocking Regulars and moving, as David Gilliver reports. 6 Letters Website: Shock at Today programme attack on treatment; www.drinkanddrugs.net Getting through to the body beautifuls Website maintained by grumble on coverage of Tory report. 9 News from a conference on performance and wiredupwales.com image-enhancing drugs at Liverpool John Notes from the Alliance CJ Wellings Ltd, FDAP and WIRED Published by CJ Wellings Ltd, Moores University. 8 Are you listening to us, or is the drug strategy do not accept responsibility for the accuracy of statements made by Southbank House, Black Prince consultation a foregone conclusion, asks Daren contributors or advertisers. The Road, London SE1 7SJ Not in front of the children Garratt. 9 contents of this magazine are the Printed on environmentally friendly The government’s updated alcohol strategy, copyright of CJ Wellings Ltd, but do paper by the Background briefing not necessarily represent its views, Safe, Sensible, Social aims to reduce the or those of FDAP, WIRED and its Manson Group Ltd number of under-18s who drink. But Alcohol Prof David Clark’s part 2 on recovery. 15 partner organisations. Cover: Montage by JellyPics Concern have found that many children are Jobs, courses, conferences, tenders 16 www.drinkanddrugs.net 22 October 2007 | drinkanddrugsnews | 3 News | Round-up News in Brief NTA dodges fire to announce Prison problems The health of prisoners with substance misuse problems is being placed at more clients in treatment risk because of underfunding and over- crowding, according to the British The National Treatment Agency has published its to improve its quality, the reporter, Mark Easton, asked: Medical Association (BMA). Prison latest figures showing more drug users in treatment. ‘What kind of oversight is it when you’ve clearly got healthcare services are struggling to The statistics, collated by Manchester University people inside the government’s treatment system cope with the record numbers of from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System handing over free drugs and extra drugs, and in some prisoners, warned chair of the BMA’s (NDTMS), show 195,464 people in contact with cases apparently, anti-depressants and other illegal civil and public services committee Dr specialist treatment services in 2006/7 – an increase drugs, to junkies?’ Clare Jenkins. ‘Prison doctors do not of 130 per cent in the past eight years. He went on to highlight figures obtained ‘by digging have the resources, infrastructure or The good news announcement continues with an through the NTA’s data’ that just 6 per cent of people on time to assess and treat the large increase in the number of people staying in treatment or a drug treatment programme emerge free of drugs at the numbers of inmates who enter the completing successfully (80 per cent of those in end of their treatment; 70 per cent did not finish their penal system with severe mental treatment this year) and an increase in successful treatment; and only 1.7 per cent were still drug free a health and drug addiction problems completion rates of 42 per cent since March 2006. year after they finished treatment. that in many cases have led to their NTA chief executive Paul Hayes said: ‘This is good Public Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo faced a convictions,’ she said. See the next news and represents a real achievement by services in similar line of questioning from John Humphries later in DDN for full reports from the ‘Prisons England. More people are receiving the treatment they the programme. The anchorman challenged: ‘There and beyond’ conference about need and three out of four are also staying three months haven’t been huge steps forward. This [drug treatment] managing substance misuse in prison or longer, which means their treatment is likely to be programme isn’t working, is it?’ more effective in the long term.’ ‘The evidence is in the numbers of treatment,’ Ms Mediterranean liquid diet Minutes of the NTA board meeting on 9 October Primarolo countered, to be told by Mr Humphries that Binge drinking, once thought to be the reflect the NTA’s caution at the ‘slowing improvement’ in being in contact with treatment services was not the preserve of northern European the numbers accessing treatment. However Mr Hayes’ same as receiving treatment. Some of those included in countries like the UK and the report says the emerging picture for drug treatment over the statistic on people in treatment, he said, had Scandinavian nations, is on the rise in the next three years is positive and he is confident that ‘received no treatment whatsoever’. southern Europe, according to a new the Treatment Outcomes Profile (TOP) system, ‘You’re spending half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ Spanish study published in Alcoholism: introduced this year is addressing the much-needed money on this programme… you’re now proposing you’ll clinical and experimental research. emphasis on quality and effectiveness of treatment. continue this approach in the next stage of your program- While southern European countries But the day before the drug strategy consultation me?,’ he asked. The minister emphasised the difficulty of have historically had high alcohol drew to a close on 19 October, the NTA’s confident line the client group and said ‘we’re making progress, we’re consumption rates, this has mainly failed to emerge during an interview on BBC Radio 4’s leading Europe’ [in getting people into treatment]. been in the form of wine with meals. Today programme. An interview that began by Priorities for the future included piloting support However, the research – based on questioning Paul Hayes about the moral efficacy of mechanisms for people, to make their drug treatment interviews with more than 12,000 contingency management – giving drug clients more effective, she said – which was why the NTA was people in the Madrid region – found incentives to stay in treatment – turned into an attack on looking at how contingency measures had been used in that weekend binge drinking among the state of drug treatment in the UK.